1. Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following: eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any two hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar conditions; and a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).